Some citrus groves in Florida, like this one, were destroyed by Hurricane Irma. (Florida Ag. Commission)

Saturday, 27 October 2012

Long Overdue Canada's Boreal Caribou Strategy Released

Manitoba Wildlands "...almost all the Alberta herds — most of which are in the same region as the oilsands — are very unlikely to survive."

A July 28, 2011 Federal Court decision forced the Federal Minister of the Environment, Peter Kent to revisit his March 2011 decision to refuse emergency protections for woodland caribou in Alberta affected by oil sands development. The Canadian Government was given until September 1, 2011 to implement a draft recovery strategy for woodland caribou. Prodded by a Federal Court direction in July 2012, the federal government set a tentative date for its improved boreal caribou strategy's release of September 30, 2012."The habitat protection measures in the strategy only give caribou a 60% chance of long-term survival, which leaves a significant risk that the caribou populations will continue to decline. This falls far short of our recommendation of increasing the target to at least an 80% chance of long-term survival," " said Canadian Parks And Wilderness Society National Conservation Biologist Dr. Chris Miller.The plan finds that 37 of Canada's woodland caribou herds are in decline. Only 14 are self-sustaining. Previous studies have found almost all the Alberta herds — most of which are in the same region as the oilsands — are very unlikely to survive. (Emphasis by PLT. Thanks, Peter! Thanks, Stephen!)